RE: [Numpy-discussion] Adding a flag to allow integer array access and masking

[Travis O. <oli...@ee...>]

> Like Greg I'm wary of having many different interpretations
> for indexing behavior (I'm not even that crazy about having
> numarray handle boolean index arrays differently than the others
> --something we haven't implemented yet, and perhaps we shouldn't).
>

You may be wary, but there are already multiple ways people think about
using integers to index arrays.  I'm trying to suggest a facility that
allows several different interpretations of array access.

> Before discussing the merits of this, shouldn't we take the attitude
> that absence of feedback is not necessarily equivalent to approval,
> particularly for something that affects the public interface of
> the module? I would feel better about this if I saw several
> affirming the need for such features rather than few openly
> opposing it.
>

I do have this view.  I'm not changing anything, right now.

Well, I affirm that this is one of the drawbacks of Numeric as compared
with other array-oriented environments.  We definitely need a way to index
an array using integers and masks.

I guess if nobody else feels this way, then I'm alone in my discomfort.

> But if one were to do something like this, I would use a different kind
> of object than 0d arrays, e.g., an instance of a class defined for just
> that purpose.

We could do that as well.

> You would really want to make sure that no data could
> mistakenly be interpreted as a flag, even if the chances were remote.
> I would also not use an underscore as the beginning of the name.

I'm not particularly wedded to _I notation, it was just a start.

> Maybe
> I'm wrong about this, but I've come to take that to mean its a private
> variable that should not be used by users of the module, and that usage
> would confuse that. Finally, the name of the flag should be descriptive
> (e.g. MaskInd).
>
> But there could be better alternatives. As an example,
>
> x[nonzero(maskarray)] instead of x[maskarray, MaskInd]

I've thought about that, too, it would work if nonzero returned some class
that stored away (but didn't copy) the maskarray info.


-Travis